Copenhagen: Leaders back to the negotiating table

The heads of state and government who met late yesterday evening to resolve some problems in the climate negotiations will continue their meeting on Friday morning.

“We have had good, constructive discussions tonight. We hope to be able to reach a political umbrella agreement”, said Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt after the meeting last night.

Some 25 heads of state and government met last night and will continue their talks this morning. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the Swedish EU Presidency, called the meeting, together with Commission President José Manuel Barroso. The talks were chaired by Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

Those attending the meeting included French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, South African President Jacob Zuma, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The UN Climate Change Conference is supposed to end today, so the time for talks is short.